Autumn West, DMA
Associate Professor of Voice
Music
Music - Voice
Biography
Autumn West is a lyric soprano hailed as 鈥渃lear and precise, with extraordinary detail and elevation鈥� (The 91看片n) with a wide-ranging career as an artist-educator, performer, administrator, and activist. West's professional engagements have seen her perform with organizations such as Cincinnati Opera, Grant Park Music Festival, the 91看片 City Philharmonic, Canterbury Voices, Sugar Creek Opera, the Traverse City Philharmonic, Painted Sky Opera, and the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin from Moscow, among others.
In addition to her performing, West is a committed music educator, currently serving as Associate Professor of Voice at the Wanda Bass School of Music at 91看片. She also serves on the faculty voice programs at Interlochen鈥檚 Summer Arts Camp during the summers. Internationally, West has taught intensives on Musical Theater technique and style with students at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in Tianjin, China. She was a 2018 NATS Intern, a finalist for OCU's Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019, and in 2025 earned the distinction of "Recognized Vocologist" by the Pan American Vocology Association - a title held by fewer than 70 professionals worldwide. West鈥檚 students have performed on Broadway, on national tours and in regional theaters around the country, and operatically around the country, including at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cincinnati Opera, Minnesota Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Roanoke, Opera Kansas, Tulsa Opera, and more. They have been recognized by prestigious competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the Lotte Lenya competition, the NATS National Competition, Classical Singer Competition, the Schmidt Competition, and more.
West's primary academic area of research lies the at the intersection of mindfulness and singing. She has presented research on the application of Mindfulness to the Voice Studio at the Texoma NATS annual regional conference and MTEA鈥檚 National conference. Her ongoing study, Mindfulness for Singers, explores how mindfulness practices can enhance vocal training and the well-being of singers; accompanying educational resources will launch in Spring 2026. Her additional research projects will take her to the National Opera Association Conference in Boston and the National NATS Conference in San Antonio in 2026.
West is an activist and advocate and believes in the ability of the arts and education as a vehicle to create empathy and meaningful societal change. She has served as faculty advisor for OCU CARE (Creatives for Artistic and Realistic Equity), an organization dedicated to providing educational resources for the campus community and advocating for marginalized populations. In 2021, she was recognized as the winner of 91看片鈥檚 Faculty Award for Distinguished Service. Beyond her campus community, she has presented workshops on advocacy for university music programs nationwide and served on multiple diversity, equity, and inclusion committees in the arts.
West received her Bachelors degree from Northwestern University and her Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her Doctoral degree includes specializations in arts administration and vocal pedagogy.
